Catching up

Last Saturday, I took second overall at the Ritley Run 5-K at Perry High School with a 19:12 time!

It's a fast course and I finished it five seconds faster than last year when I also took second place with a 19:17.

This race is really a nice community event as there is a 1.5 mile fun walk and small dashes across the football field for young children, who each receive a finisher's medal.

The weekend before Sunday Sept. 12, I ran the half marathon at Presque Isle in Erie, Pa. I was doing great for the first seven miles then my left leg tightened up and I had to drop down from my 7:30/mile pace down to about an 8 minute pace.

I said goodbye to the pace group I had found, hoping to break 1:40. But I managed to gut it out and finish in a respectable 1:42:05

I finished in 65th place overall out of 694 total finishers so ending up in the top 10 percent is a pretty good showing. My age group at this distance is also very competitive as I finished tenth.

Runners World Quote of the Day:

"The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at."

Jesse Owens, American track and field athlete and Olympic gold medal winner

Happy running!

30-minute tempo

Today was a balmy 52 degrees and sunny when I headed out for a 30-minute jaunt before watching the Browns lose (at least it was an entertaining game).

This run was the last hard one before Thursday's Turkey Trot.

I ran the first mile in 8 minutes, then picked it up for about a 6:55/mile pace or so for the next two miles and then finished the last mile in 8 minutes.

All totaled, it was about 4 miles in 30 minutes for a 7:30/mile pace, very solid.

On Monday, I'll probably do either 2 or 3 miles really easy and then take off Tuesday and Wednesday so that I can be fresh for the 5-K race on Thursday.

Looking forward to this! Hopefully the weather will be decent this year. Right now, the forecast calls for a high of 46 degrees and rain. At least it's not supposed to be a blizzard.

Happy running!

Speed doesn't kill/Erie Runners Club Turkey Trot

With not a lot of time to spare this evening due to babysitting duties at home, I finally got out to the gym for a speed workout on the treadmill just after 9 p.m.

I decided to do 6x200 intervals with 1-minute recovery jogs. After a 1-mile warmup at 9:06 pace, I did a little stretching, then got ready to amp it up.

The 200s were run between 5:49 and 5:43/mile pace, more toward the latter for the final four intervals. Felt great, like I could have gone even faster pace, but this was good for tonight. I finished up with a 1.25 mile cooldown at about 8:00/mile pace.

Earlier in the day, I signed up for the 5-K for the Erie Runners Club Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I'm stoked since last year I couldn't run it due to a sprained ankle from furniture moving. It wasn't my fault, ask my wife :-)

The Runners Club is expecting more than 2,000 runners combined for the 10-K and 5-K with the race director indicating he expects this year to be the largest crowd ever.

Registration online closes Nov. 19 at 9 p.m. So if you haven't registered for either race, do it now. You can also register the day of the race, but aren't guaranteed a shirt or sweatshirt.

If weather conditions are good (which they rarely are this time of year), the course is ripe for a good finishing time. For the 5-K it's completely flat and is an out and back course. It's probably similar for the 10-K, but I'm not sure since I haven't done that race.

I enjoy the 5-K especially because you get to see all the runners (and walkers too) at some point and any cool costumes people are wearing. Most of the time, people are cheering you on and it's a lot of fun.

Fewer than nine days to go until race day! By the way, if you're planning to run something on Thanksgiving drop me an e-mail or post a comment. Would love to hear from you. I'll also publish your results on this blog if you like.

Happy running!